New Technology for Meetings

New technologies and opportunities to engage members are all around us - from apps, social media, mobile technology, webinars, e-marketing and more.  The Meeting Management & Education Council talked about what's working in their associations and ideas for the future at the November 7 meeting.  Here are the top takeaways:

• With the increase in members utilizing smartphones and technology at meetings and events, it is up to the speaker/presenter to set the expectation for using mobile devices during each session.  
• Twitter is a good resource at large conferences and events to get out information quickly and promote exhibitor drawings and prizes - consider using a big screen outside the exhibitor entrance to engage attendees.
• Is your website mobile friendly?  Mobile websites need to be coded to be mobile friendly (.mobi sites).  Don't have a mobile website?  Consider a responsive website design that adapts to fit the viewing device.  Example: http://elliotjaystocks.com/ - view this website on full screen, then drag to make smaller (you should see that the copy changes to fit the screen).  

MSAE members are creating conference apps (some providers include Amaratech-MSAE, Quickmobile-MNLA, in-house-Aging Services of MN) and seeing a change to offer more mobile options (print is still important though).  MSAE hosted trivia at the most recent Fall Conference and it was well received - http://cosgrovepresents.com/.